FTSE put in the green by Barclays and GSK…

The FTSE 100 index edged higher after positive GlaxoSmithKline results came at midday, after investors were boosted by Barclay’s Q1 results.
The drugmaker issued a strong set of results, trading over 2% as we print as revenue and core net income came in ahead of consensus estimates at £6.2bn and £959m respectively. Furthermore, the business outlined that its expects to see core EPS growth of 10-12% on constant currency terms, due to an “encouraging ” start to the year.

Barclays (+3.86%) inspired investors either way following the release of consensus beating Q1 results. The bank announced a 25% drop in pre-tax profit to £793m, down from £1.06bn from the respective quarter last year, along with a fall in income net of insurance claims of 11% and an increase in credit impairment charges of 15%.The results were ahead of expectations, as investors took to the performance of the bank’s core business but did note the low return on equity posted by the investment banking side of the business. Meanwhile, Standard Chartered saw some of the gains it saw yesterday pared back a touch as it traded -2.49%.

UK GDP consensus estimates were on target anticipating a lower 0.4% rate growth for the quarter, as this amounted to +2.1% growth year-on-year. Output from the dominant services sector was up 0.6% , as the three main industrial of GDP decreased, as production fell 0.4%, construction by 0.9% and agriculture by 0.1%. The numbers came as no surprise on the back of the equity market volatility at the start of the year, and business confidence wobbles due to the impending EU referendum.

At the close European indices were up with the FTSE 100 +0.56%, with the CAC 40 +0.58%, and the DAX 30 +0.39%.